The Process After DWI Arrest

What is the Process After a Bryan-College Station DWI Arrest?

After the arrest, the police officer will read you a number of important forms. In Texas, we call these the statutory warnings or DIC-24. Police cannot request a breath or blood sample until these warnings are given. After requesting a sample, if you decide to submit, the officer will take you to either the police station for a breath test, or take you to the hospital for a blood draw. After samples are collected, you are taken to the county jail where you are booked in for DWI, which is a bondable offense. In many instances bonds are preset. Sometimes, though, the person must to wait until the next morning when a magistrate judge sets the bond. This usually happens if the person refused to submit to a chemical test. Once the bond is set, then the person can bond out of jail. Their College Station attorney generally has little impact on this process, or how quickly they make bail.

Additionally, the jail has policies regarding when they will release a person on bond. Jail staff won’t allow a person to bond out until they blow under 0.08. They typically use a PBT to make that determination. But once the person has detoxed and is under the 0.08 limit, they are free to bond out at their convenience. They can hire a bondsman or they can pay a cash bond to accomplish this. A cash bond will be refunded to them once their case is ultimately concluded in court. Call a Bryan DWI attorney for help!

Texas Implied Consent Law

We discussed the implied consent law earlier. In Texas, when someone obtains a driver’s license from the Texas Department of Public Safety, they give their implied consent to provide a breath or blood sample upon proper request of an officer. The proper request occurs after the officer develops the appropriate probable cause for the arrest and after they read the suspect the statutory warning (DIC-24). If the person refuses to submit to a breath or blood test, the Department may attempt to suspend their driver’s license based upon the implied consent law. If the person does provide a sample and they fail by testing at 0.08 or above, the implied consent law also permits the Department to suspend their driver’s license for a test failure. Call a Bryan DWI attorney to help you defend against these administrative cases!

Contacting a College Station Attorney Before a Chemical Test

Under Texas law, you do not have the right to legal counsel prior to submitting to a chemical test. If you ask for a lawyer the officer will refuse your request. Regrettably, a driver is on their own when it comes to making the decision whether to submit to a breath or blood test. Please refer back to our discussion about what to do when you’re being investigated for DWI.

Driver’s License Consequences For Refusing or Failing A Chemical Test

Once an arrest occurs and the statutory warning is properly read to the suspect, a refusal to voluntarily submit to testing will initiate what is called administrative license revocation, or ALR. For an alleged refusal, a person’s driver’s license may be suspended for 180 days. For an alleged test failure, their license can be suspended for 90 days. In either case, a person receives a notice of suspension, or DIC-25, before the suspension occurs. The notice explains their right to fight the suspension. After the notice is given, a person usually has 15 days to request a hearing to defend against the suspension. A College Station attorney trained in ALR defense can make this request for you.

Meeting With a Bryan DWI Attorney Within The First 15 Days

You should meet with a qualified DWI defense attorney immediately after your arrest. Important time limits apply at this time. I recommend all potential clients meet me personally within 15 days of their arrest. Since they will make a significant investment in legal services, I want to ensure we talk in-person before they decide on legal counsel. Further, I must evaluate potential clients to decide whether I want to accept the representation, or not. It’s a two-way street. We might spend an hour or two together during our first meeting. Later meetings are at the client’s discretion. The majority of my DWI defense work involves the evaluation of the prosecutor’s case. It calls for the investigation of police reports, audio information, video, forensic testing, and other related evidence. However, I always make opportunity for clients to visit anytime they desire, whether it’s a phone consultation or office meeting. I have always entertained an open-door policy.

Are Brazos County DWI Arrests Public?

A DWI arrest is public record. In general, the booking records and court files can be accessed on the Internet if someone knows where to look. However, these cases rarely get any media attention in our community, unless it’s a high-profile case, or if someone was seriously hurt or killed. Consequently, most DWI arrests don’t make the news. But an official background check by an employer, for example, may find the records.

Can I Get My Bryan-College Station DWI Arrest Record Expunged?

Expungement is the process of destroying your arrest records. Destroying your DWI arrest would be possible in only two circumstances. First, if the prosecutor dismissed your DWI case, and you were not convicted of any other offense arising from the DWI arrest, you could get an expungement. Second, if a jury found you not guilty after your DWI trial, you could get an expungement then, as well. As you can see, expunging a DWI arrest record can occur only in very limited situations in Texas. However, a new law which became effective on September 1, 2017 would permit a person to seal their DWI arrest records under certain circumstances. Sealing your record is different from expunging it. Sealing is accomplished through a process called non-disclosure and means that the government agencies who possessed records relating to your arrest like the police, the prosecutor, the court, and others would be prohibited from releasing your arrest records to the public. The records would not be destroyed, but public references to your arrest would be curtailed by the order of non-disclosure. I explain this process in detail with potential clients visiting me about their DWI case.

This publication and the information included in it are not intended to serve as a substitute for consultation with an attorney. Specific legal issues, concerns and conditions always require the advice of appropriate legal professionals. The use of the Internet for communications with the firm will not establish an attorney-client relationship and messages containing confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent."